Trade ban.

[Industrial Fan]

He didn't say we were over the cap.

In my discussions with footy fans in Melbourne they seem to think that players play for hawthorn for less money to win flags, they play for us for $.

That's the way the message is spun which is hard to combat whether it's true or not. As per above I blame free agency that a player can say I want to go to XYZ club to win a premiership - with an equal competition that should be more than one destination.

[KTigers]

BB, calm down mate. I think we're all mostly on the same page here. It's just the use of the word conspiracy that is causing a few divisions. A bunch of Hawthorn supporting boofheads sooking about Buddy leaving, when really the bloke mostly just wanted to live in Sydney with his girlfriend, wouldn't normally qualify as constituting a conspiracy. How on earth would they know if a team is over the cap. Most of them don't know what day it is. I don't know the circumstances of Hawthorn's prelim win over Port in 2014, so I can't really comment on that. My general point is that the ongoing Melbourne centric-ness (not really a word I know) of the AFL means that teams and the code in general in the non traditional footy states of NSW & QLD continue to suffer. The Swans are big boys and they will pull through, but GWS and all of QLD I'm not so sure about.

[barry]

The AFL will look at the record membership of the swans and say the trade ban was a success.

[mcs]

No they bloody well didn't. If you call that Preliminary Final of theirs 'legitimate' in 2014 you're just as bad as a Hawks supporter. They shouldn't have even been in the Grand Final with us in the first place. It should have been us and Port.

- - - Updated - - -



Closet Hawks supporter I suppose.

They trot out that line every bloody time to kill a legitimate argument.

- - - Updated - - -



We weren't over the cap to begin with. Wanna talk conspiracies? Look at Hawks supporters and all their dribble about us being over the cap in 2012. How in the holy hell did we manage to get Tippett and Buddy if we were over the cap?

The revisionist history around 2012 from fans of certain teams is astounding. The way they talk its like we were a team full of superstars, not a champion team that punched way above its weight to win the flag. Over the cap hahaha keep dreaming you donkeys.

There is one thing almost all wees and poos fans will take to their grave - a massive chip on their shoulder about the 'stolen' 2012 cup. It wont matter how many they win a row, 2012 will still gnaw at them

[dimelb]

Bloods05 and Velour&Ruffles, ably assisted by KTigers, you have penned some of the best vituperation I've ever read on this site, and every comment rings true. It deserves a wider readership.

[longmile]

The grand final will probably end up with Cyril kicking a goal from the goal square after the siren to win by a point after a free kick that wasn't even there

[aardvark]

The AFL will look at the record membership of the swans and say the trade ban was a success.

Well if you want to look at it that way they'd be right.

[bloodsbigot]

There is one thing almost all wees and poos fans will take to their grave - a massive chip on their shoulder about the 'stolen' 2012 cup. It wont matter how many they win a row, 2012 will still gnaw at them

I'm not satisfied with 2012 and how much it'll eat away at them. Or even 'stealing' Buddy away.

I want the swans to leave a permanent dent in their souls.

God I hate that football club and their bandwagon pack of moron supporters. It's goes way beyond 2005-08 West Coast hatred. It's incredibly personal.

[bloodsbigot]

My general point is that the ongoing Melbourne centric-ness (not really a word I know) of the AFL means that teams and the code in general in the non traditional footy states of NSW & QLD continue to suffer. The Swans are big boys and they will pull through, but GWS and all of QLD I'm not so sure about.

This annoys me too and I get annoyed by old South supporters getting so defensive about our NSW supporters complaining that the league is too Victorian. All this Victorian-pride stuff is just crap. I'm from Victoria too and never actually lived in Sydney, but this goes beyond any stupid state-rivalry stuff, it's our club we're talking about here for Gods sake. I'd piss on the big V jumper if it meant giving us more premierships. State of Origin is dead and the world is getting smaller. I'm amazed that anyone even gives a damn about an imaginary border separating two land masses.

We're all Australian. Screw tradition. It's not VFL anymore. It's the AUSTRALIAN Football League and we are playing AUSTRALIAN football. High-time the AFL started treating it that way and if they want to be seen as a legitimate national competition rather than some expanded suburban comp.

/rant

[BRISWAN]

Yes we were banned/limited with our trading??.

But, why do you think that the Swans basically accepted it without too much fuss ?????

A fine rant. Well said sir (madam?).

[barry]

The only reason i can think of is they saw heeney and mills coming.

In reality we only missed out on patful and he hasn't set the world on fire at GWS.

[Meg]

Trade ban.

Yes we were banned/limited with our trading??.

But, why do you think that the Swans basically accepted it without too much fuss ?????

Because we didn't have salary cap space to be in the market to any significant extent anyway year 1, and year 2 we were also very limited but got the ban relaxed enough to be able to achieve the Jetta /Sinclair trade. That's the irony - the AFL panicked and slapped on the trade ban on the basis of ridiculous rumours about us being in the market for highly paid players such as Frawley & Ryder when the reality was this was never on as we could not afford them. Patfull is the one player we may have wanted but missed due to the ban, and our defence line is doing just fine without him.

I too remain angry about the discrimination and attack on the Swans integrity implied by the trade ban. But I don't think it had much effect in terms of our eventual list of players.

[56-14]

Because we didn't have salary cap space to be in the market to any significant extent anyway year 1, and year 2 we were also very limited but got the ban relaxed enough to be able to achieve the Jetta /Sinclair trade. That's the irony - the AFL panicked and slapped on the trade ban on the basis of ridiculous rumours about us being in the market for highly paid players such as Frawley & Ryder when the reality was this was never on as we could not afford them. Patfull is the one player we may have wanted but missed due to the ban, and our defence line is doing just fine without him.

I too remain angry about the discrimination and attack on the Swans integrity implied by the trade ban. But I don't think it had much effect in terms of our eventual list of players.

Thanks Meg. Great post. Clarifies the situation for me.
(Hope we can all move on.)

[dimelb]

This annoys me too and I get annoyed by old South supporters getting so defensive about our NSW supporters complaining that the league is too Victorian. All this Victorian-pride stuff is just crap. ?

bloodsbigot, do you really hear very much of this nonsense? I grew up in NSW, have lived in Melbourne since 1990 and have had plenty of opportunity to hear it but never have. The locals I see all seem to love the club and see it as the old show in a new venue, and several, like yourself, are critical of the AFL's shenanigans.

[Go Swannies]

I'm not satisfied with 2012 and how much it'll eat away at them. Or even 'stealing' Buddy away.

I want the swans to leave a permanent dent in their souls.

God I hate that football club and their bandwagon pack of moron supporters. It's goes way beyond 2005-08 West Coast hatred. It's incredibly personal.

After the moronic drunken Hawks fans we had behind us during the 2014 GF (we left early) I feel the same. I hit the mute when any of them or their coach is on TV. And I only confessed at the game yesterday that I'm even happier when the Hawks lose than when the Swans win. That makes this an awesome weekend.

I've said I'll never attend another Hawks home game - including a Grand Final - but that resolve may be tested sooner than I'd like. I just hope they lose one more game this season then lose their sudden death final.

Sudden death . . . now there's a pleasing idea. Would Donald Trump be up to nuking the HFC as a gesture of strength?